His fist shattered the guard’s stupid mask, and Conrad roared in satisfaction as the man fell on the ground, unconscious. It was a sound coming from the deep bowels of his soul, and he felt his larynx tremble at the might of it.

It was liberating. It was intoxicating. It was dangerous.

A part of him knew that he was getting close to the edge but after what he had to put up with, he just didn't care.

Movement just on the corner of his sight caught his attention and he abruptly turned to face his new opponent. It was then that his mind and soul ground to a complete and utter stop.

A boy, a very young boy, not even in his teens, was laying on the ground, a look of fear in his eyes.

The picture of helplessness sent something predatory stirring in his blood, but he ignored it, concentrating on the boy's eyes.

He had already seen those eyes.

They were very similar to his own.

He felt his rage simmer down and fade, replaced with confusion as memories flooded right in front of him, echoes of a life that wasn't his own but sometimes surely felt like it was.

"Naruto...?" he asked uncertainly, almost not realizing that he had spoken out loud.

The boy flinched before a defiant glint entered his eyes. “Wha-How do you know my name, old man?! Who are you?!”

How, indeed. Conrad could feel his head spin, trying to register what he had just realized. While his nephew—his nephew—waited for an answer that the Nord wasn't sure how to formulate, he realized something.

He had been lied to.

Inoichi had lied to him, about Minato's family.

Minato had a son, before dying.

The kid wasn’t a copy of Minato, of course. His hair was blond, but a slightly different shade. His skin was a a bit more tanned, and his face had a rounder shape. Conrad couldn’t help but wonder how much of his mother was in him, then he frowned as he felt Minato’s memories playing tricks on him once again.

He had never seen anything like the marks on the boy’s cheeks though. They looked like scars, but a closer inspection revealed that they weren’t scars, or tattoos or birthmarks or anything like that. They were just… marks on the skin.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Naruto said, getting up with a frown on his face. He barely reached Conrad's chest. The boy was short. "Answer my question! And what’re you doing?! Wha-what did you just do?! There are sick people here!"

Conrad would've liked to reply to the disrespectful tone accordingly, or just say anything... but what was he supposed to say? What's the first thing a man should say to a kid that he just met and magically found out he was related to?

"Well?! And why did you knock out this guy?!" Naruto asked loudly while looking upward towards his face, seemingly taking notice of the passed out guard only now.

The Nord focused again on the boy, he had not even realized that he had got lost in his own thoughts. He supposed that presentations were in order.

"You see, Naruto..." he started, hesitating for a moment. "I—"

"Don't move!" someone ordered, mercilessly breaking the mood.

"Oh you have to be jesting," Conrad muttered in Nordic, before slowly turning his head. Behind him, two masked guards had literally just appeared, weapons in hands and ready to strike. He was really getting tired of that.

Sadly for the poor bastards, he had long realized that if they truly wanted to kill him, they would've tried it in an obvious way already.

"TIID."

Time froze, or at least it was slowed down like if was made of molasses, and everyone along with it. Everyone but the Dragonborn.

He cracked his knuckles as he turned to face them, and they lunged at him. Unsurprisingly, even with Conrad’s shout they were almost as fast as a normal man would’ve been in more mundane circumstances, which was a testament to their speed. Almost was not enough, though.

Conrad side-stepped the first attack, idly noticing that hadn’t he moved he would’ve been hit with the flat of the blade—yet another confirmation that they didn’t want to kill him—and grabbed the man’s wrist. With a single motion, he twisted it until the short, single-edged sword fell from the guard’s hand.

The sword fell at normal speed, but to Conrad it was like it was falling through water. He caught it by the hilt with his free hand easily and used it to parry the other guard’s attack. The blades clashed and locked, as Conrad shoved his own one to the side, leaving an opening in his opponent's defense.

With a spin, he threw the unarmed guard right against the other one, sending them tumbling down. To their credit, they were already trying to get up, and it was clear that they would’ve not landed in a mess of limbs and bodies as the Nord had hoped.

He let go of his weapon and bounded at them with his bare hands. Both found the neck of one of the guards, but the Dragonborn didn’t stop his sprint.

There was no grace, no complex or calculated movements or anything like that. Just brute strength and momentum, aimed to slam the two men’s unprotected napes against the wall.

The impact sounded dull through the effect of Conrad’s dragon shout, but the cracks forming on the hard surface were satisfying enough.

The sword fell from the hand of the guard on his right, while the other grabbed his arm and tried to free himself. The fact that they had refused to fall unconscious just pissed him even more.

So he pulled, just enough to distance the two fighters from the wall. Then he slammed them against it again.

And again.

And again, each time causing even more cracks to appear on the wall.

Adding a knee to the crotch of the more resilient guy for a good measure, Conrad finally let them go. They fell like two sacks of potatoes, or at least how two sacks of potatoes would fall if time were slowed down, before remaining limp on the ground.

Then he kicked them both on their sides, just to be sure. Hopefully they would not disturb his reunion with his unexpectedly newly-found kin now.

Time started to flow normally as he straightened up, dusting off his hands. Turning around, he almost tried to resume his introduction from where he had been interrupted from, only to stop on his tracks as he saw Naruto.

The kid was looking at him with a shocked angry expression, eyes darting from the three unconscious men to Conrad. He had even taken a step back.

The Nord realized that beating three city guards, even if they deserved it, wasn’t exactly a very good first impression. Scratching his head, he tried to think how to explain his actions.

Naruto’s punch caught him completely by surprise, hitting him square on his chin.

Conrad’s reaction was swift enough, grabbing the kid’s orange—orange!—jacket and simply lifting him in the air, giving him a bad eye. Naruto immediately started to thrashing around, trying to hit him and screaming words that the Dragonborn didn’t know, probably swear words or threats.

Conrad sighed, inwardly asking himself what he was supposed to do now. As long as reunions between long-lost family members could go, this was probably among the least encouraging ones.

For being such a shortie, the kid had a pretty good punch, he mused. Quite fast, too. Not as the masked fools that had spied on him for a month or so, but noticeably so. His eyes caught sight of the headband with the snail mark on his nephew’s forehead, the same that Inoichi, Anko and a few others he had seen sported proudly. He had been so absorbed from the discovery of having a family that he had not even noticed it.

An apprentice, perhaps? Maybe still studying how to become a “shinobi” in that place Inoichi mentioned? He sure seemed young enough...

“Let me go, dammit!” Naruto shouted, talking so fast that Conrad was barely able to understand the words. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, fighting the old man’s guys?!”

“They attack me first,” he replied, honestly confused by how that seemed to be a bad thing. It wasn’t like he had conjured a knife and slit their throats, after all. Sure, there would probably be a fine to pay or something like that later, but it was totally worth it. “Naruto, listen very—”

Conrad's instructions came to a screeching halt as three figures came barreling down the hall.

“Master, please calm down—” Beta, the first to arrive, called to him in their mother tongue. Her words died as she noticed the three unconscious guards. “Oh no. It’s too late.”

“That’s it. We’ll be hunted down and killed like outlaws now. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later,” Sven proclaimed somberly. “You guys owe me twenty septims.”

“Ta’Sava did not sign up for this—Oooh. A little copy of the master. Except for the whiskers. Why he have whiskers? He is no Khajiit.”

“Wha—What the—?!” Naruto yelped, eyes darting from one mage to the other in confusion. Conrad doubted it was because he had been hearing unfamiliar words. If he had to guess, he would say that he had grasped that he was staring at a bipedal cat. It seemed to be the norm when someone saw Ta’Sava these days.

“Master… who is that boy?” Beta asked, sounding concerned by how he was holding Naruto above the ground level close to a stairway well.

Conrad sighed, slowly putting down his nephew, without letting him go though since the kid predictably tried to bolt out. “Speak Akaviric or how it’s called, Beta,” Conrad said gruffly in said language. “Is rude to speak in way someone can’t understand. Come on,” he gestured, starting to walk towards the stairs, pulling Naruto along with him. “You three, too.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Naruto protested, trying to get free but still following his steps. “Who are you guys? And why do you talk funny—”

“I said, come on!” he growled without slowing down. “We must go.”

“Go where?!” Naruto and the magelings asked in unison.

"I want explanation. Must kill blonde liar too... Maybe he explain before."

“An explanation about what, you crazy old man?!” the kid yelled at the top of his lungs.

“That is a good description,” Sven snorted, which gained him a playful whack in the head from Ta’Sava.

Conrad was about to ask to the boy if he was always this loud, but a sudden thought made him pause. As he stopped on the lower floor, right in front of one of the large windows, Naruto freed himself of his grip and took a step back, a confused and yet defiant expression on his face. The Nord studied the kid’s face for a few, tense seconds. Even the magelings didn’t dare to interrupt.

There was no recognition or realization in his nephew’s eyes.

“They never tell you about your father?” he asked with a heavy sigh. Naruto’s eyes went wide at that, confirming his suspicions.

“My… father?” the stunned child whispered. Oh, this was going to be so easy to explain.

Something about this didn’t make sense though. If Minato had been their leader, why would these people not tell his son about his father's identity?

Unless he was a bastard? The dreams and bits he had experienced from Minato's memories had shown him a woman, not a wife... Not yet, at least. But seeing how fragmented and confusing they had been, he didn't think he would get any confirmation of Naruto's legitimacy from them.

Not that there was anything wrong with being a bastard. But he knew well that some people and cultures thought that having a son out of wedlock was dishonorable, especially for someone in a high position. That could explain why people could not acknowledge the boy as Minato's family. Like Inoichi had.

Unless there was something else he had not been told, that was the only reason he could think of. Or perhaps Minato had kept it a—

He heard the sound of running footsteps, and he saw something green and fast rushing at him from his side. He turned to face it—

“DYNAMIC—”

Conrad felt the blow on the torso, and immediately after there was the sound of something breaking all around him.

A split of a second later, he was staring at the sky, surrounded by glass shards. Then he saw the ground in the distance, racing to meet him...

“Crap!” he exclaimed with a tinge of panic, frantically tapping to the power of the Aetherius and putting his knowledges in the school of Alteration at work. Spreading his arms wide open, he forced gravity to lessen its grip on him. It wasn’t enough to reach full levitation, not by a long shot, but it surely slowed him down enough.

The Nord landed in the middle of the street with a grunt, falling on his knees. Not a very graceful landing, but at least he had nothing broken.

He was aware of the startled people around him, but the pangs of pain from the cuts and glass shards edged all over his body seemed a bit more important.

With as much care he could muster, he started to dig them from his skin, trying to avoid to break them further otherwise healing the deeper cuts would be a problem later.

All around him, Conrad could feel the stares. The whispers. “Yo-yon-yondaime?!” He even saw a couple of people point at him with awe-struck expressions. Shouldn’t they have been calling the guards instead? Or was it normal for people to be thrown out of windows around here?

Oh, right. He had lost his beard, so he looked like Minato—

A figure landed a little distance from him, way more gracefully than he had fell to the ground. The green color was the first thing his mind registered. Lots and lots of green, on what looked to be well-toned muscles.

Then he saw the hair, shaped like a bowl.

Much to his surprise, the people on the street didn't seem to react to the man's appearance as much as he would've thought.

"How unyouthful of you to cause trouble in a hospital! If it is a fight– wait, do I know you?” the man in crappy hairstyle frowned after seeing him face to face. Yeah, this must be someone who punches others then ask questions later.

“Hmmp, doesn’t matter. Let’s start once again! If it is a fight that you wish for, let us continue out here so as not to disturb my most youthful student and the rest of the patients!" the green-clad man proclaimed boisterously. "As much as I admire the flames of your passion, I would prefer if you would stand down!"

Conrad didn't understand everything that the strange man had said, partly because of the weird way he spoke, but mostly for the fury mounting from the deepest corners of his soul.

He had caught the part about calming down and surrendering. Normally Conrad would have even listened. He wasn't the kind of person that picked a fight in the middle of a street.

Not without a damn good reason, at least.

However, he had a bad couple of days, between the news about the lack of mead available on the local markets and the loss of the beard he was so proud of. Then he had been attacked just because he wanted to get some fresh air.

Oh, and he found out that he had a living blood relative. It was that kind of news that changed how some people looked at their lives.

But this utter fool, this man in green, had taken him away from Naruto before he could explain to the kid about his father. Which apparently nobody had ever bothered to do.

Also, he threw him out of a window. From a tall building.

Picking out the last of the shards wedged in his upper arms, Conrad extended a palm towards the freak of nature. "Burn."

A stream of flames shot from his hand, engulfing the green-dressed man.

Conrad heard a startled scream from the crowd, but instead of running away from the fight the people just seemed to move on the edges of the street, just enough to be safe, chattering among themselves.

What was wrong with these—

"I understand,” the voice of the green man said from behind him. “Out of respect for your resolve, I'll give you the fight you wish."

Before Conrad could even spun around, he felt the blow. It was like being hit by a warhammer, and like a warhammer, it spread fire from his side to his whole body. There was a sickening crunch, and at least one rib fractured from the impact, which cracked a few more for sure.

A pained yell died in his throat as a punch crashed on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Another punch immediately followed, this time striking his left cheek. All of this had happened in a single green and painful blur.

Conrad blindly aimed another jet of magical flames against his opponent, but it singed nothing but air. Another blow—either a kick or a punch—exploded against the back of his head, and he felt his vision swimming, just on the brink of unconsciousness.

Something stirred inside the Nord. Being knocked unconscious like a milk-drinker? Again? Fuck that.

Should he use his dragon aspect? Because he is itching to rampage once again after being cooped up on those prison cells while enduring the humiliating treatment. But he can’t risk being hated by his nephew if he accidentally destroyed this city. Should he use his vampire lord again? Out of the question as it is still morning and would just become a slow moving punching bag as a result.

Gritting his teeth, the mage pulled together his hands and forced as much power he could muster into a spell. He let it go, a brief azure flash surrounded his body just before the man’s next strike hit him square on his face.

It was a strong punch, but the pain wasn’t anywhere near comparable to the blows he had just been pummeled with. Instead, it felt more like a strong slap to his face, which helped the Nord to clear his head.

The punches ceased all of a sudden, and Conrad looked up, bruised with a bloodied nose, but getting steadier on his feet. He saw the man in the horrible attire staring at him with undisguised curiosity, his pose vaguely defensive.

"Just now, you somehow made your skin harder,” the green-clad fighter muttered in wonder. “I can feel it with my fists."

"No shit," Conrad replied. It was a lame comeback, but considering that he barely felt half of his face he couldn’t think of anything better. Frankly, he counted himself lucky he still had all his teeth inside his mouth.

Taking advantage of the unexpected pause, he moved his hands on his wounded side, concentrating as best as he could. A warm golden light appeared above each hand, he felt the pain from the broken rib subside, as bone roughly melded itself. The cuts and scrapes from the glass shards slowly closed as well, and his many bruises faded a bit. From across the street, his opponent watched with rapt fascination.

Which was good. The longer he stood still to stare at him, the longer the Dragonborn could come up with a plan. If Conrad had thought the masked men were fast, this green-clad monstrosity was made them look sluggish. It didn’t even feel like fighting against a human.

No wonder he was dressed like that. He probably knew that nobody would criticize his dressing preferences.

As soon as he felt good enough, Conrad shifted the way he was using his magic with a simple flicker of his fingers, and the golden lights faded away, being replaced by little electric arches. He could feel the energy building up.

The man in green wasn't moving though, actually he seemed to be waiting for the Nord to make his move.

Either it was because of chivalry or because what Conrad had done so far was unknown to him, but it was a big mistake. You never, ever leave a wizard enough time to prepare—

In the blink of an eye, the man was right in front of him, fist ready to strike.

“FEIM!” he yelled in a hurry, and the green man’s fist passed through him, leaving him unscathed as his opponent almost lost balance due to his own momentum. Conrad half-turned towards the man that has gone through his ethereal body, a hand sprayed against him, cackling with electricity.

“Dodge this,” Conrad seethed, unleashing a bolt of lightning, his body returning to a corporeal form.

Much to his surprise, the man did dodge it, albeit barely. By jumping and twisting in mid-air, which was just ridiculous. The spell passed close to the man’s head, and crashed against a building, defacing its walls with a quite large scorching mark.

This finally caused the crowd to back off, at least.

“Yosh! You use quite a few strange techniques!” the man exclaimed as he landed, his hair now bristled and pointing upwards, some of its ends slightly burned. He didn’t seem to notice, though. “Time to treat you seriously, then—”

“FUS RO!” the Nord yelled, sending his opponent flying all the way down the street. Like the masked guards, he didn’t have the decency to stay down, opting for bouncing right back on his feet instead.

The man grinned, and Conrad swore that his teeth shone, reflecting the light of the day. “A most splendid attack, allow me to show you—”

Yet another lightning bolt exploded from the Nord’s outstretched hand, and the green monstrosity just side-stepped it, before shooting forward faster than an arrow. Conrad let him know how annoyed he was by throwing yet another fast-travelling spell at him, one after another, alternating between his left and right hand. Each time, the man would dodge it, appearing to the wizard as a smudge of green charging towards him.

With a mighty jump, the man soared high above the Nord, a body of solid muscle that ended with an outstretched heel aimed for Conrad’s face.

Good.

“TIID!” the Dragonborn shouted, raising his arms to protect himself from the imminent impact as the world slowed down around him. The kick, stronger than an axe, landed straight on the manacles at Conrad’s wrists. Caught between the hardened skin and the monstrously powerful blow, the magic-tampering metal bent and finally broke apart.

Conrad couldn’t help but grin maliciously as he saw surprise setting on the green man’s face, savoring each change it slowly went through.

Deciding to avoid staying under the still-descending foot, he took a few steps backwards, just out of the way of the man’s kick. At a gesture of his hands, glowing blue lines traced themselves into the dirt in front of him.

The man’s eyes widened in alarm as he took notice, and if possible, Conrad’s grin turned even fiercer.

Time began flowing normally again, and the green monstrosity fell right on the magic rune. Conrad instinctively braced for the impact, shielding his head with his arms as best as he could.

A short-lived flash, and then there was just cold. There was no other way to describe it.

It came in a single wave, a deep, bitter chill straight from the hellish depths of winter. When Conrad opened his eyes, his front was coated with a thin layer of hoarfrost. His skin was numb, and he couldn’t feel the tips of his fingers, but he could ignore it.

Even if he didn’t like the cold, there were a few advantages to having Nord blood in his veins.

His opponent, much to Conrad’s delight, had fared far worse. Icicles had formed around his body, his face showed the first signs of frostbite and his limbs were now encased in solid blocks of ice, trapping him on the spot.

The man’s face was glowing with amazement, though. “Brilliant tactical maneuver! I must applaud your wit!” he exclaimed cheerfully. How dared he be so cheerful?!

“You can use Ice-Style? I didn't even knew there was anyone still able to!" he continued, possibly even more excited than before, besides the fact that he was shivering for the sudden drop in bodily temperature. Then there was a solid crack and part of the icy formation exploded, sending sending ice shards flying in every direction.

Conrad's eyes widened as the man flexed his now free arm. People can't just break to free themselves from ice!

"Say, where are you from—"

"For the love of Talos, shut up!" Conrad hissed as a sickly and malicious green color coated his fingertips. Without hesitation, he charged and fired the spell.

Still trapped by the ice, the fighter had no chance to dodge it and his body was immediately coated by the green tinge of the paralyzing magic, freezing him on the spot, his face petrified in surprise.

Conrad briefly thought that the color suited him, as he started to conjure another spell on his right hand. In a swirl of flame, a small fireball was born, hovering on his palm.

He raised his arm, pointing the deadly spell right in front of the green man's face, almost at point-blank range. He could feel the fighter's gaze on him, even if his body wasn't able to move. He met the frozen eyes with his ice one, as the fire kept raging in his hand.

Then he cut the magicka that was feeding the spell and closed his fist, snuffing it like a candle.

"I win," Conrad said, his voice tinged with vicious satisfaction.

"That was a fine show," a voice behind him remarked.

Conrad jerked around, and found himself face to face with a familiar face. It was the same old man that he had met when he woke up in that cell almost one month ago.

It was like if he had just appeared there, weird hat and pipe in the mouth. Not a sound at all.

Was anyone remotely normal in this accursed continent?!

The old man smiled gently, but Conrad didn't miss the sharp glint in his eyes. "I trust this fight is over?"

"How long you watch?" he asked. He didn't like the idea that someone could sneak on him during a fight.

"Enough to see you using some... unusual abilities, so to speak. Could you be so kind to release my subordinate, now?"

At that, Conrad glanced at the paralyzed man, noticing only then that he was sporting that stupid snail marking him as a shinobi. On a belt, strangely enough. "You're the Hokage," he commented, not doing anything to please the old man's request.

"What gave me away?" the man asked mirthfully, before frowning. "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the village is under my protection. Now, I'm asking you to—"

"Your shinobi will be fine," Conrad scoffed. "Spell not last long. How did you know I not kill him?"

"I felt that it wasn't your intention," the old man replied cryptically. "Besides, I could've stopped you whenever I wished to."

It wasn’t a threat, or at least the wording—if Conrad had understood it correctly—hadn’t been threatening. But there was something in the way it had been said, as though it were a fact, that made Conrad pause.

Having spent a lot of his life surrounded by wizards of various age categories, he knew very well that old ones tended to be the most dangerous as a rule of thumb, even if not physically. After his gruesome training experience with the Greybeards...and Paarthunax.

If a shinobi could become as powerful as the man in green, how dangerous could their leader be?

“You know, for something like what you pulled you would normally being sent back in prison… or worse.”

"He started it, just like the masked ones," Conrad grunted, deciding that the best defense against an implied threat was to ignore it and change the topic. “You have explanation to give, old man.”

"Oh? About what?" the Hokage asked, taking a long puff from his pipe. It was like watching a glacier, immutable and imperturbable.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" a much younger voice yelled from above with perfect timing. The old man’s shock as he choked on his pipe was incredibly satisfying. And lo and behold, there was Naruto, at the window Conrad had been thrown from, along with the magelings. “You can do the same stuff Haku did? Can you do the mirror trick?!”

“About that,” the Nord gestured with a tilt of his head.

He had no idea what or who this ‘Aku’ and the mirror trick were, but there were more pressing matters than explaining it to his nephew.

Briefly glancing at the young boy, Sarutobi turned to face Conrad and an unspoken question was given. “Yes. I know who boy is,” Conrad said, looking straight into the old man’s eyes. “I know he no knows, too.”

The Hokage coughed one last time. “Perhaps now is not quite the best time or place to—”

“He has right to know,” he interrupted with a scowl, but keeping his voice down so that the child would not hear him.

“Hey, are you talking about me?” Naruto asked loudly. If once he became older the shinobi profession didn’t reveal to be good enough for him, Conrad was sure that the kid would be able to get a future as a herald.

The old man sighed and ran a hand over his face. If Conrad had to guess, he was quite stressed. Good. “You don’t understand, the risks are too great—”

“If you no tell him, I will,” Conrad interrupted again. At this, the Hokage’s eyes grew dangerous, not a trace of the previous worried expression present. The Nord didn’t wither under that gaze, though. He had stared down dragons, for the gods’ sake. Multiple ones. There was no way that an old shinobi would manage to scare him.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re talking about me now. Hey, I’m right here!” Naruto called, but none of the two men turned to that. “Quit ignoring me!”

"There is a situation at hand right now," the old man said, not elaborating about it and quite ignoring Naruto's outburst. "And it got even more complex in the last days. I, and Konoha, can't afford to deal with this now."

"Not my problem," Conrad said dismissively, slowly shaking his head.

"It will be solved shortly," the ancient shinobi said, as if he needed to be reassured about that. "Just wait for two days, Harissen-san. Two days to sort it out, then I'll explain everything."

"Minato sent me here. I crossed big sea, mountains and forests. Travelled for months. Your prisoner for one," the Dragonborn said taking a few steps towards the older man. "You better to—"

"That's it! I'm coming down now!" Naruto called, stopping Conrad on his tracks. Coming down?

His head snapped up towards the broken window, just in time to see Naruto stepping out on the window frame. Without the slightest bit of hesitation the boy jumped from the second floor, ignoring the startled yells from the magelings.

Conrad felt his heart skip a beat. The rest of his body, instead, decided to move.

In hindsight, he may have handled it better. The right shout at the right time, or a very strong telekinetic spell to either slow down or stop the boy's fall for a few seconds would've been enough to stop the reckless fool's fall. Sadly, when their only living relative does something incredibly stupid and dangerous, people don't always react in the most appropriate manner.

Somehow he still managed to rush there in time, arms closing around the falling body. He grunted as his sore and bruised muscles flared up in pain, along with the strain put on his barely-healed ribs. Still, he refused to fall on his knees.

The broken window shards would not have been pleasant to land on.

For a short moment, silence reigned on the almost deserted street, as Conrad checked the boy in his arms for injury. Considering that he was just staring stupidly at him he decided that he was fine. Time to give the boy a piece of his mind then.

"WHAT DID YOU THINK?!" the Nord yelled at the tops of his lungs. "YOU LITTLE—"

"HEY!" Naruto interrupted, yelling even louder than the Dragonborn, if that was even possible. "Let me go, you idiot! Who asked you to catch me?!"

“You were going to hurt you, boy! Why you jump?!”

“What? It’s just a jump!" Naruto asked incredulous, starting to struggle in the Nord's arms. "How could it hurt me?”

Conrad stared in disbelief at the boy in his arms for a long moment, before daring to ask what he was thinking. “Are you stupid?”

“I’m not the stupid one here—”

A cough was heard in the mostly deserted street, cutting off whatever retort or insults Naruto may have had.

“Harissen-san," the Hokage said, after catching the attention of both blonds. "I assure you that Naruto was not in danger to hurt himself. If he was, I would’ve stopped him.”

“HAH! See?!” Naruto exclaimed smugly, as he got free from Conrad's embrace.

“On the other hand, Naruto, Harissen-san is largely unaware of the skills possessed by shinobi,” the old man kept explaining.

“What?!” the boy exclaimed in a shocked and yet confused tone.

“He is not a shinobi and doesn’t know exactly what a shinobi can do," the Kage patiently clarified. "Like jumping from a building.”

“But he defeated Bushi-Brow-sensei!” Naruto protested, glancing at the frozen and paralyzed green-haired man. Conrad couldn't help but snicker at the strange name.

“Yes, he did. Which is quite impressive,” the elder shinobi said that, with an almost condescending tone, which caused the Nord to suppress a growl. “Still, even if he misunderstood your actions and tried to ‘save’ you, his utter lack of hesitation is remarkable.”

“Huh?” the boy asked, tilting his head.

“He got scared at the thought of you getting hurt.”

“Ooh. Is this because he knows about my father?” Naruto asked, a sparkle of realization in his eyes.

“More or less, yes,” Conrad replied with some mirth in his voice as he saw the old shinobi shot a brief glare in his direction.

“Are you—” Naruto hesitated for a moment to ask, biting his lips. “are you my father?”

In the silence that ensued, Conrad felt his eyebrows disappear into his hairline in surprise. Sarutobi wasn't faring better, since he looked like he was on the verge of choking on his own pipe—not the smoke, the pipe.

They had surely not expected that.

"So... are you?" the boy asked again, looking actually hopeful.

“No!” the Nord exclaimed, maybe a bit more harshly that he had intended. But he wanted to clear that misunderstanding as soon as possible.

“Oh…” Naruto mumbled, looking downcast.

“What made you think that?” Conrad couldn’t help but ask.

“Before you told me...” the boy said, pointing at the broken window from where the magelings were watching the strange exchange in silence. “And you, well… kinda look like me, so I thought…”

“I’m sorry, Naruto,” the Hokage sighed, talking in a way that reminded the Dragonborn of a concerned grandfather. “I’m afraid that Harissen-san is not your father.”

“Hokage is right. I am...” Conrad paused, unsure to continue. He turned towards the old man, pointing at himself and Naruto repeatedly. “What is word for…”

“If we are really going to have this conversation, since it looks unavoidable at this point, we will not have it here in the open,” the old shinobi said sternly. Gone was the grandfatherly voice.

“Is fine by me,” he shrugged.

“It’s not fine by me, Harissen-san,” the Hokage frowned, undeterred. “You’ll have your answers, but you will get them where I want to give them.”

Conrad could see that nothing was going to make the shinobi leader change his mind, but he didn’t want to recognize his defeat. He opted for just grunting something that sounded approving instead.

“Very well then,” the Hokage said, gesturing with a couple of fingers towards Conrad and Naruto’s direction. One of the masked guards, not different from the ones that he had knocked out cold, appeared behind Naruto, startling him. At the same time, the Nord felt a pair of strong hands closing on his own shoulders, and against all instinct, decided not to resist.

A blink of an eye later, Conrad found himself being dragged away at a ridiculous speed, the world around him a blur.

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

"There they go. I told you he would get arrested again," Sven commented after seeing his teacher being taken away in a puff of smoke.

"Do you think we should help the man in green before he goes into hypothermia?" Beta asked anxiously. "If he dies, it will look bad."

"No, they've got it covered. Look," the boy answered pointing towards the street, where a couple of the whitish-dressed healers that worked in the building had rushed to attend the frozen warrior as soon as their master had been taken away. "Who was that kid anyway?"

"He looked like Master Conrad," Ta'Sava mumbled. "And Master Conrad said something about fathers..."

"You don't think that..."

"No, come on guys. That's impossible," the Imperial reasoned. "I mean, he never travelled to Akavir before."

“He didn’t, but… it doesn’t mean that the kid’s mother didn’t—” Beta countered, only to be interrupted by someone tapping her shoulder. The Nord girl turned, only to be meet by one of those inexpressive masks of their guards.

“Aaaw, Ta’Sava wanted to spring Master Conrad out of prison…”

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

In hindsight, Conrad should've just broken the guard's arm and been done with it. He would've avoided the vertigo and nausea he was experiencing. Sure, he had dealt with worse hangovers, but this was like waking up the next morning without having got any fun first.

How in the name of Julianos could these shinobi move at such high speeds and not suffer from any sort of side effects? The mere strain that they put on the muscles should've been enough to tear their limbs apart!

Unless there was magic involved, because magic explained everything. Almost. There were limits even to that.

Hadn't Minato mentioned something about the magic of Akavir working in a different way? Yes he did. He hadn't been very clear now that he thought about it, though. If there hadn’t been time to tell him about a nephew he never met, he suppose there hadn’t been time to pontificate about different kinds of magic.

"Harissen-san?" the old man's voice came to him. "If you would please join us..."

Conrad grunted some vaguely affirmative sound as he straightened up, fighting the wooziness he was still feeling to take in his surroundings. He had been taken to an unfamiliar room, but at least it wasn't a cell this time.

It was vaguely circular, with large windows making up one of its walls which gave an incredible view on the rest of the city. A fairly large—and strangely familiar—desk stood in the middle, impossible to not notice. And right behind it sat Sarutobi Hiruzen, the leader of these people.

Instead of looking like a jarl or lord or whatever’s throne room, though, the place seemed closer to a clerk’s office. An impression that was strengthened by the fact that the Hokage was apparently busy writing on some papers with one of those quill-with-no-quill that didn't need to be refilled with ink.

He had to remember to get one when he went back at home. Or a dozen.

Glancing around, he noticed Naruto, fidgeting on his feet and trying to not show how he was obviously staring at him, and failing. Badly.

Unsure about how to deal with it, he opted to ignore the kid, hoping that he would stop doing it. Seriously, it was annoying to be stared like that.

Finally, the Hokage put down his writing stick or whatever it was called and looked at both of the blondes in front of him. “I know you both have a lot of questions. I had wished to speak about this at a later date, but—”

"Old Man, he said he knows about my dad! Who the hell is he?!" Naruto interrupted, deciding to jump straight to the point. Good kid.

"I had hoped to tell you when you were older, Naruto... I'm sorry I had to keep this from you."

"Tell me what? Keep what from me?!"

"He mean I your..." Conrad started, only to stumble on his own words and opting to keep it simple for his own's sake. "Minato my brother."

"Who's that?" the boy asked in confusion. "That sounds like a sissy name."

"You not know? Inoichi said Minato was..." the Nord asked in turn, turning towards the Hokage who seemed to be trying to hold back a groan.

"Naruto, unfortunately, was frequently truant in school and, consequently, there are many gaps in his knowledge. Even in things that should be obvious," the old man answered.

"What?" he asked, feeling incredibly embarrassed. He hated not understanding big words. Damned his limited vocabulary!

"He studied very little," Sarutobi clarified for his sake.

"Hey!... That's kinda true," Naruto exclaimed in an attempt to sound outraged, only to mumble the last part.

Conrad looked at him with the stern disapproval that only family could pull off, having learned it from the best. "Is no good. Lessons important. Make mind better."

"But they were boring! And I'm not good at book stuff..." the boy mumbled. "Why am I saying this to you, anyway?!?"

"You let him no go to lessons?!" Conrad accused Sarutobi, ignoring the boy's latest outburst.

"Of course not! I made every effort to keep him in the classroom!" the Hokage exclaimed, looked understandably offended.

"Stop talking like I'm not here, dammit!" Naruto protested. "Old man, how'd this guy know my dad? You said my dad was dead!"

"Yes, he is Naruto, I'm afraid that it's not easy to explain, but before we continue you must realize this: everything that will be said from this point onwards, is a S-Rank secret."

"S-Rank...?" Naruto almost whispered, eyes widening. Conrad couldn't help but think that he was missing something here, having heard the strange appellative months ago from Hermaeus Mora. Sadly he didn't have enough context to extrapolate. Not even Minato's jumbled memories were helping. What did S-Rank even stand for, though?

"Do you understand?" the Hokage demanded in a stern voice, and Naruto nodded frantically. "Very well. Harissen-san, if you could please take the fourth picture from the wall behind you?"

Conrad turned as asked, getting a good eye of the rest of the room, and the piles of books and papers scattered around. It definitely resembled a clerk or a scholar's office during a busy day. Above the door, four portraits were hanging from the wall. Four individuals, all with a serious look. The first two, he had no idea who they were. Not that he cared. The third one... either Sarutobi had not aged well, or the portrait was done when he was much, much younger. And of course, there was Minato.

So, that was how he would’ve looked if he had let his bangs grow longer when he was younger. Strange how such a thought could come up now, of all times.

"This is Minato," he said, taking the picture—which was probably how the locals called those incredibly detailed portraits, for all he knew—and passing it to Naruto.

"Uh. He looks familiar," the boy mused. Conrad had to resist the temptation of rolling his eyes. Or smacking some sense in the kid.

"Because he is—no, was..." he started, correcting himself. Verb conjugation was important. "He was my brother."

"But he looks just like you! Even if he has less wrinkles," Naruto observed.

"Twins," Conrad growled, getting more and more irritated at his nephew. He wasn’t sure if it was because the casual comment about his age or for the boy’s lack of awareness. “And he was your father."

The Nord silently stared as the boy’s eyes widened in shock, probably because the discussion’s whole weight crashed on him all at once. In Conrad’s opinion, he should’ve seen it coming by now.

"W-what?" Naruto finally choked out, his gaze darting from the picture to Conrad’s face. He was either desperately trying to regain grasp of reality, of he was a really slow one. Conrad hoped that the latter was truer than the former.

"This man is your uncle, Naruto," Sarutobi clarified for the poor boy.

"Uncle...?"

"Yes," Conrad nodded. Naruto kept staring at him, but there was a different light in his eyes, like if he was seeing him for the first time.

"Why...?" the kid finally spoke, but nothing else came out the boy’s mouth, like if he couldn’t find the right words.

"Why?" the Nord asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you come sooner...?" Naruto managed to ask, starting to tremble as he clenched his fists.

"Now wait moment—" Conrad tried to explain, only to be interrupted by a punch to his stomach, courtesy of his newly-found nephew.

"Where were you for all my life?!" Naruto all but yelled as he kept punching Conrad’s torso. He would’ve found it annoying, especially because he was still hurting from his fight, but was a bit taken back from the younger blond’s reaction.

"I not know, boy," he tried to say, but this didn’t seem to satisfy Naruto. It’s not like it was his fault if he had met him only now!

"Stop talking like that and answer me!" Naruto exclaimed in frustration and anger, tears forming around his eyes.

"Naruto!" Sarutobi interrupted the boy with a sharp tone. "I understand that you're confused, but Harissen-san didn't find out about your father until recently."

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion, lowering a fist that had been ready to strike again Conrad’s abused torso.

"I am from very far land. I came here fast I could," Conrad explained, putting Minato’s portrait on the desk, leaving out the fact that he hadn't even heard of the kid less than one hour ago. Somehow, that seemed like something that a child was not supposed to hear.

"Oh... sorry," Naruto said, deflating a little. "So, uhm... A land far away? Which one?"

"One you never heard of," the Nord stated, matter-of-factly.

"Huh? Yeah I wasn't good in geography, but—"

"Harissen-san is not from the Elemental Nations, Naruto. He has learned our language only recently." Sarutobi explained for the kid's sake.

"What? No way!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh, yes. Very much way. That's a topic we can talk about later, though," the Hokage said, probably to avoid for the discussion to go off-topic.

"I agree," Conrad reluctantly grunted. "Why Naruto not knows about Minato? Why it secret?"

"Oh, right!" the boy said, as if he had just remembered what they had been talking about. "You always told me that my parents—"

"I told you that your parents sacrificed their lives to protect the village. That much was true... but it wasn't the whole truth."

"Wasn't the whole truth? What do you mean, Old Man?" Naruto asked, real hurt being hearable in his voice.

"You must understand. Everything I've done, everything I've had to do, has all been to protect you," the old shinobi tiredly said. "The man in this photo, your father, was the Yondaime of Konohagakure."

"The... the...the Yondaime is... was my... dad?" Naruto asked, even more shocked than before if such a thing was possible, gripping his stomach with all his strength. Conrad didn't blame him, it was a lot to handle all at once. "But then—”

"Yes, Naruto. Your father is the man that killed the Fox," Sarutobi said with a stern tone.

"But he—"

"And doing so, he saved the village," the Hokage continued, and Naruto's attempted protest died with it. Once again, Conrad couldn't help but think that something was amiss here. Maybe some details about how the beast was killed were not exactly of publicly known? After all, to kill it Minato had condemned himself to an eternity spent inside the Soul Cairn.

Maybe necromancy of any kind was particularly frowned, here? Conrad decided to leave such speculations for later. Living family matters came first.

"But... if I am the Yondaime's son, then how come I was never told?" Naruto asked, still appearing a little shocked.

"To protect you."

"Protect me from who?"

"You may have ignored the lectures that bored you, but I'm sure that you're aware that your father was a powerful shinobi—"

"Everyone knows that the Yondaime was strong, old man!" the boy butted out, like if he was stating an obvious thing.

"—and, because of that, he made a lot of enemies," the Hokage continued, ignoring Naruto's interruption. "Surely you can imagine what a child of an important leader could risk."

Conrad nodded in comprehension. "A target. Weak one. Way to strike father. Or mother."

"Are you saying that... someone could've tried to kill me because of that?!" Naruto asked as if such a thing was unthinkable. So, slow-witted, inattentive and naive to boot. Wonderful. "But everyone respected him! They still do—"

"They respect him, yes. In Konoha," Sarutobi continued explaining. "Among his enemies, especially Iwa, he was quite vilified and hated. Which is why you can’t go bragging about him, especially right now, as a team from Iwa is in the village for the Chunin Exams."

“You let enemies of Minato in your city?” Conrad asked, ignoring how the older man had looked at him as he spoke—it’s not like it was his fault if his enemies were paranoid. Allowing them to visit sounded like inviting Thalmor to a lecture or feast, though.

“Village," Sarutobi corrected. Conrad didn't say anything, but he refused to call a place that had probably a few good dozens of thousands of inhabitants a village. "And the exams are an international event, refusing them would’ve been like admitting we are too weak. Or that we have something to hide.”

“You have something to hide,” the Nord snorted, gesturing towards Naruto.

“Yes, but they don’t know that,” Sarutobi admitted, with what looked like the ghost of a smirk.

Naruto didn't say anything, still processing what he had been told. It was like he had never considered that people may hate what he considers heroes. Actually, from what the Dragonborn had seen so far, there was a good chance of that.

"What about my mom?" the boy suddenly asked, maybe trying to change the topic. "You guys never said anything about her... Is she alive?"

"She died the day you were born," Sarutobi said slowly, regretful of giving such bad news.

"Oh," Naruto said glumly, as the hope that had practically been emanating from him a moment ago all but evaporated.

"Her name was Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto," the Hokage continued. "She loved you very much."

"She was a beautiful woman. Long hair. Red like blood," Conrad offered, realizing too late what he was saying.

"You knew my mom?" Naruto asked in amazement.

"Not... exactly..." Conrad mumbled, ignoring the sharp glare that Sarutobi was giving him. He couldn’t exactly tell the boy the details about how he knew something about his mother. Not that he knew much, thanks to Minato’s botched job. Thinking back to that made him look warily at the desk, hoping that the familiarity he felt was not related to those memories he had got.

At that, Naruto just tilted his head in confusion. "Eh?"

“Your father told me,” he added. It wasn’t a lie, technically.

"But… you said you found out only now, and he’s been dead for years,” the boy slowly reasoned. “It doesn’t make sense!"

"Met his ghost," Conrad explained.

"... I call bullshit."

"Language, Naruto," Sarutobi reprimanded the boy. Conrad filed what was apparently a bad word for later usage. Not knowing enough swear words in the local tongue was frustrating. "As far as we can tell, he is telling the truth."

"In my land there is special place," Conrad explained. "Place where you can meet dead. There I meet Minato."

"Really... ? Do you think my mom is there too?"

"I... not see her, sorry,” the Nord said, hoping that that wasn’t the case. “Meet only Minato and he sends me here."

"To find me?" Naruto asked expectantly.

"To find you, yes," Conrad nodded. Although being advised about the kid's existence would've been nice.

"Why couldn't he come too?! I mean, he's a ghost, right?” Naruto pressed. “He could've... I don't know... floated here, or something!"

"Dead people... can't leave that place," he explained, in an admittedly lame way. He just didn’t know enough Akaviric words to express why the soul trapped in that plane weren’t able to leave.

"Then... we could go there and talk to my dad!” the boy insisted, getting more and more excited at the idea. “And ask him if mom's there too!"

"That... is stupid idea,” Conrad said flatly. “More stupid idea I heard my life."

“You mean ‘most’, Harissen-san,” Sarutobi corrected him.

“Whatever.”

"Huh? How come?" Naruto asked.

"Only dead can enter that place. You die if you go."

"Didn't you go, though?" his nephew questioned skeptically.

"I special case," Conrad said matter-of-factly.

"Bullshit!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

Before he could retort, Sarutobi caught the duo’s attention with a short cough. "While I considered the option of contacting Minato's soul—"

"YES!" the boy loudly cheered, pumping both of his arms in the air.

“—I've decided that right now, it's not possible,” The Hokage continued imperturbed before Conrad could open his mouth to protest. “The location your uncle mentioned is very far from the village, in an unknown land, and probably far more dangerous than I could ever imagine."

"But—"

"To go there, you have to cross sea,” Conrad interjected. “Arrive in land you no know about, no know language, no know monsters—”

“Monsters?” Naruto asked in a mix of confusion and worry, his hand going once again to rest on his belly. Was the boy weak of stomach or something, too?

“Yes, monsters,” the Nord nodded, resuming listing the reasons why such a travel would’ve been difficult. “No have contacts, no allies. Then you walk for... what is word for that? Whatever. Even if you arrive there, something something Volkihar is not safe place either."

"Volkihar?" Sarutobi asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Big... house of stone? Door for Soul Cairn is in there," Conrad explained. No matter how zealously the Dawnguard had cleansed it, the whole place just kept feeling wrong, somehow. And not in the mundane way.

Naruto blinked for a moment at that. "And what is the—"

"Place where your father soul is."

“I would like to hear about this place—and of your land—at a later date, Harissen-san,” the Hokage said all of sudden. “For now, I think there are more immediate topics to talk about.”

A moment of silence followed that statement, and Conrad stole a glance to his nephew, who was apparently doing the same.

“What… what happens now?” Naruto asked apprehensively.

“First off, Harissen-san, you’ll have to avoid being seen. There are enough wild rumors spreading from here to Earth Country. Obviously, any other disturbances like the one back at the hospital will not be tolerated,” Sarutobi explained, making sure that what he meant was clearly understandable. As threats went, that was among the most polite that the Dragonborn had ever got. Probably the second most polite.

“So, you want me to never leave cabin?” Conrad asked, glaring at the Hokage.

“What cabin?” Naruto asked, being out of the loop on this detail of his uncle’s stay in the village.

“For the time being, yes. We need to make sure that Iwa doesn’t believe that their old enemy has returned from the grave. And avoid mass panic in the village.”

“City,” Conrad corrected instinctively.

“Village,” the Hokage insisted. It seemed that the old man was very attached to that particular terminology, for some reason.

“No seriously, what cabin?!” Naruto asked again, glancing from one man to another frustratedly.

“Your uncle and his students have been given… lodgings in a cabin in the woods above the Hokage Monument,” Sarutobi explained.

“Lodgings, he says,” Conrad muttered sarcastically. “At least view is nice…”

“Wait,” Naruto said, looking up towards his uncle with a hopeful look. “Does that mean that you’re… staying in Konoha?”

“Yes,” the Nord said, after exchanging a glance with Sarutobi. “For bit.”

“That’s so cool!” the boy exclaimed, as he started to look ready to bounce around in excitement. “Can I come to visit?! Can I?!”

“Maybe it would—”

“Of course you can,” Conrad quickly said, locking eyes with the Hokage once again. This time it wasn’t a brief glance. This time it was an actual staring contest, a mean for a battle of wills without causing a scene in front of his nephew. “Right?”

Conrad knew he was playing dirty, and not in the usual way you play dirty during a fight. But why should he have cared? Obviously the old man cared about Naruto a lot, which could have been for reasons that went beyond such things like “secret son of our deceased lord” detail. Now that Naruto had been told about his newly-arrived uncle, not letting them meet again would’ve been a bad move.

Wicked, even.

Finally, Sarutobi gave a reluctant nod.

“YES!” Naruto yelled, jumping in the air.

“On one condition though,” the old shinobi said before the boy could start jumping around in

“Uh?” the boy mumbled, calming down immediately.

“Don’t overexert yourself: you still have the final phase of the exams tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Naruto said as if he had completely forgotten about these… exams. “Wait, can I still take part in those? Even now, that I know—”

“Being the Yondaime’s son doesn’t give you any special privileges for the exams. Also, would Uzumaki Naruto ever drop the exams the day before the finals?”

“Hell, no!” Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist. “I have to kick Neji’s ass! And Sasuke’s too, I guess.”

Conrad briefly wondered what this “exam” was about. Since his nephew was a shinobi apprentice—or something along those lines, at least—then it was probably some kind of test for his skills. And since shinobi seemed to be this place’s warriors, there was probably a physical part in such task. The fact that he wanted to kick those guys—were those even male names?—pointed at some sort of tournament or simulated battle.

He would’ve been worried, but if it was something that Naruto was able to take part to, it was probably nothing dangerous. After all, he was a kid. The others apprentices were probably around his age as well. Any fight would’ve probably ended looking more like a brawl between children than a serious match.

Before anyone could say anything more, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Sarutobi called. The door slightly opened, revealing a young-looking shinobi with a large stack of papers and scrolls under his arm.

"Sorry to interrupt, Hokage-sama," he said, warily looking at Conrad. "But it's almost time for your appointment with the daimyo's envoy."

"Politics," Sarutobi muttered, showing his distaste for the subject with the tone of his voice. Finally something him and Conrad could agree on! "I'm afraid we'll have to cut this short, but there are other things will have to discuss in the future."

"Can I go to cabin, then?" Conrad asked.

"Are you? Can I come now?!" Naruto asked as well.

“I don’t see why not,” the Nord said as he walked towards the door.

"Hold it, you two," the Hokage called, stopping him before he could trample the young man blocking his way. "You can't be seen Harissen-san. Especially along Naruto, remember?"

"Then how we supposed to—” Conrad asked, before his eyes widened in realization at Sarutobi’s smug smirk. “Oh no. No way. I refuse—"

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

"Put me down!" Conrad growled to the guard that had taken him on the top of the mountain, ignoring the sickness he was feeling once again. Being treated like a piece of... of... luggage!

The true source of humiliation, though, was his nephew laughing at his misfortune. A lot.

Conrad ignored it at the best as he could. He was a grown man, it wasn't like he cared if a child was laughing at him.

As soon as they had been placed on the ground, the masked guards immediately dispersed, apparently leaving the two of them alone. Conrad knew better, though. He would bet that at least four of them were watching the two of them.

"You coming or not?" he called for the still snorting Naruto, as he started to walk through the small woods around his not-exactly gilded prison. Still trying to get a hold of his laughs, Naruto followed him. "We probably meet my students, if they were taken back, that is. They little older than you—"

"Students? Oh! You mean those guys that were with you!” Naruto said in realization. “They're your students?!"

"Yes,” the Nord nodded as they reached the clearing. “They may ask lot questions but—"

"That's awesome! It's like you have your own genin team!" the boy grinned at him.

"My... what?" Conrad asked, tilting his head.

"You know, a genin team! A—Ah, right,” Naruto stammered, sounding somehow disappointed. “You're not a shinobi. That still sounds weird, you know?"

"I proud of what I am," Conrad replied. "Wouldn't be any else."

"You mean 'anything' else, right?" Naruto offered.

"Whatever. Look, they good kids,” he sighed, stopping right in front of the cabin. “Just very, very curious. Too curious. If you don't feel to, no answer their questions. I do it all time."

"That doesn't sound... fair. Uncle," Naruto said, adding the last part at the last moment.

"Life is not—" Conrad started to say as he opened the wooden door, but his words fell dead as he noticed who was inside the cabin, examining a vial with a potion. "You!"

"Harissen-san? What—" Inoichi asked, a bit taken back by being addressed with such an angry tone. Before he could finish, though, Conrad had crossed the small room and punched him right on the nose.

"You liar!" Conrad seethed, preparing to give another punch. The other blond man objected to such course of action with a blow of his own, though. The Nord felt a loud crack, and pain immediately spread all over his face. He stumbled back, touching his nose by reflex and he could feel a generous amount of blood flowing among his fingers.

The blond bastard had broken his nose.

Whatever part of his mind may have told him that getting in another fight with a shinobi may had been a bad idea stopped protesting at the sight of his own blood.

"Oh, it's on!" he growled as he cracked his knuckles. Then, he all but charged at his fellow Nord—not caring if he wanted to be considered one or not—with a mighty roar.

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

Naruto kept staring as the two men crashed through the room, yelling, grunting, slamming their fists on each other’s face and making quite a mess of the room.

"Isn't that... Ino's dad?" Naruto asked idly, a bit confused by the sudden and unexpected violence.

"Who is Ino?" a boy Naruto hadn't even noticed asked, not stopping from peeling a potato. If he had been startled from the sudden brawl, he wasn't showing it. Instead he opted to merely stay safe from it, in the far corner of the room, well away from the fight along his two companions.

"Uh, she's one of my old classmates," Naruto explained, shooting a wary glance at the cat-thing sitting close by. At least it seemed to be as confused and worried as him about the fight.

"Oh, it is little guy that look like master Conrad!" it said, before glancing back to the two men that seemed to be focused only on beating each other to a pulp. "Should we do... anything?"

"It's Nord thing," the girl said with a somehow wise-sounding tone, discarding a long strip of potato’s skin. "You two can’t understand."

Naruto wasn't sure why his uncle had attacked Ino's dad like that, but he couldn't help thinking that having a family was going to be... interesting.